Founded in 2010, The Image Research Network is brought together around a shared interest in the nature and function of image-making and images. We seek to build an epistemic community where we can make linkages across disciplinary, geographic, and cultural boundaries. As a Research Network, we are defined by our scope and concerns and motivated to build strategies for action framed by our shared themes and tensions.

The Sixteenth International Conference on The Image calls for research addressing the following annual themes and special focus:

2025 Special Focus—From Democratic Aesthetics to Digital Culture

Theme 1: The Form of the Image

Theme 2: Image Work

Theme 3: The Image in Society

Theme 4: Creative and Cultural Technologies

Theme 5: Ordinary Practice and Collective Behaviors